I used to have a serious aversion to grilled chicken breasts. They would always taste more like charcoal than like chicken, but then I started doing more than slathering store-bought barbecue sauce on chicken and now I'm a true believer.

My most recent attempt at grilled chicken was a success: Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken Breasts from Rachael Ray's magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray. This was a perfect weeknight meal, since it is not only quick, but it's low maintenance. The only things you have to chop are a small onion and a clove of garlic. Then you have to core and slice a pineapple. Easy peasy. Even easier if your husband is always in charge of the grilling (just pretend that you don't know how to turn on the grill, it works every time).

I made the whole recipe for the glaze even though I only made two chicken breasts. The extra glaze came in handy for dipping the chicken in (and, if you are my husband, you can dip your green beans in the glaze, too). You should consider this a contender for your Fourth of July party (it was included in Rachael Ray's Fourth of July menu).

To accompany my chicken and grilled pineapple, I prepared Orange-Scented Green Beans, also from Every Day with Rachael Ray. My decision to make the green beans was inspired by the "Fresh From the Farmers Market" icon offered by Alanna of A Veggie Venture.

There's a Farmer's Market every Thursday just one block from my office in Downtown Sacramento. Last week, some green beans there just sat on the farmer's table, looked up at me and said: "If you take me home and turn me into a yummy recipe, you can post that cute little blushing tomato from Alanna on your blog!" How could I resist them after that? The recipe couldn't be any easier, but next time I'd use less butter.

Here are the recipes with my comments in brackets:

Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken BreastsTara Bench From Every Day with Rachael RayJune-July 2007

1. In a small saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until translucent and beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the honey, hot pepper sauce and chili powder and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and set aside.

2. Preheat a grill or large grill pan to medium-high. Rub the chicken with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt. Grill until well marked, about 7 minutes. Flip and cook until the bottoms are well marked and the chicken is cooked through, another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and brush with the reserved honey glaze. Cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. [Allowing it to rest makes a huge difference.]

3. Meanwhile, grill the pineapple until well marked on one side, about 4 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve with the chicken.

Orange-Scented Green BeansFrom Every Day with Rachael RayOctober - 2006

Fill a skillet with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the orange zest and green beans. Cook until the beans are bright green, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain, discard the zest and return the beans to the skillet. Toss with the butter, chives and salt to taste.